THE OSPREY, 



AN isolated island has long been the resort 

 of the Osprey or Fish-hawk. 



In the illustration we see one winging its way 

 homeward, bearing in its talons a morning's meal 

 to its hungry young. 



Season after season has that unapproachable cliff 

 afforded the necessary protection to the inof- 

 fensive Hawks while hatching and rearing their 

 young ; and the brpad space upon its summit is 

 nearly covered with the nest, which has grown 

 year by year until it has reached enormous pro- 

 portions. No human foot has ever scaled that 

 height, no energetic egg-collector ever taken the 

 speckled treasures from that island home ; and 

 from their secure refuge the young have watched 

 their parents depart upon their fishing excursions 

 and return again, with labored flight, bearing the 

 fruits of industry with them. 



It is a beautiful sight to witness the Fish- 

 hawk pursuing his finny prey. Behold with what 

 grace he leaves his rocky sanctuary, launching 

 himself into the air upon his broad wings, and 

 circling with easy, powerful sweeps around and 

 above his impregnable home. Satisfied that all 

 is well, he wends his way toward the shores of 



the loch, where the water is less deep, and where 

 his keen eye can perceive the objects of his 

 search swimming at tut a little deptli below the 

 surface. 



Slowly he proceeds, scanning closely all that 

 passes beneath ; suddenly he checks his course, 

 and, with quick repeated flappings of his wings, 

 holds .himself stationary for a moment, then falls 

 like a dart, and disappears in a cloud of spray. 

 Soon, however, he emerges, rising heavily, for 

 his talons grasp firmly a large Fish (which is held 

 lengthwise with his body, never across), and, af- 

 ter gaining a slight elevation above the wat-er, he 

 shakes his plumage free from the glittering drops 

 that still cling to it, much as a Dog would on leav- 

 ing the water, and wings his way homeward, an- 

 nouncing his success by shrill, oft-repeated cries. 



The young hear the welcome notes, and with 

 many hisses, expressive of their gratification at 

 the coming feast, drag their half-fledged bodies 

 to the edge of the nest, and with outstretched 

 necks and raised wings impatiently await the ap- 

 proaching parent bird. As he rises slowly to the 

 height of the nest, he makes one half-circle to 

 see that all is right, and then alights with his 

 I02 



